X-bit labs

Friday, July 29, 2005

Macromedia to Challenge Real, Apple and Microsoft. Macromedia Flash 8 to Provide Streaming Video Capability

Macromedia originally made its Flash as an animation technology for web-sites and the tech became a de-facto standard for multimedia web-pages these days. Now Macromedia has re-designated the Flash to become a platform for application development. One of the main features of Flash 8 software is video streaming capability.

“The company has promised big changes in Flash 8, and many of them center on its video capabilities. Flash 8 boasts a new codec, On2 Technologies’ VP6, that both companies claim will provide dramatically improved quality over the Flash 7 video codec. Flash 8 also supports alpha transparency, which lets authors combine Flash video with text, vector graphics and other Flash elements,” writes CNET News.com.

“This new version of Flash is quite an improvement. If positioned more as a media engine, then it could cause Real, Apple and Microsoft some concern since it will evolve into a competitive platform for streaming video,” said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies in Campbell, Calif.

By contrast to the majority of available players, Flash video does not require any players to be installed, but just a Flash plugin. This means that video is being played right in the browser and developers can have some flexibility in terms of technical settings. At first this may seem to be a benefit, but, on the other hand, this could be a drawback, failing to offer an array of features important to both media purveyors and consumers.

“Flash doesn’t have digital rights management, and studios care about DRM. We are focused on intellectual property that has value, where DRM matters. Flash is fine for ads, but none of the studios are going to do this,” said Michael Schutzler, senior vice president of media for RealNetworks.

• CNET News.com: Flash 8 Poised to Take on Web Video.